The Messenger of Allah  said: "This life is cursed; cursed is everything in it except remembrance of Allah and what is relevant to that, or a scholar, or a learner."

Mu‘aath read this Hadeeth (narration) on Thursday morning while turning the pages of a book. He was terrified by what he saw and read, and pondered for a while. Thoughts rushed to his mind like a waterfall and he began asking: Does this Hadeeth mean that this life is dedicated to worship only? Does it mean that work is considered a distraction and a waste of time? Does this mean that we must remain in the Masajid (mosques) and not leave them at all?

If the answer to these questions is in the affirmative, this leads us to ask other more important questions: From where will we eat, drink and feed our sons and daughters? Who will assume positions of authority and command in the Ummah (Muslim nation)? Who will work in factories and shops? Where will scientists in medicine, engineering, astronomy, warfare and other sciences, graduate from? Should we leave all these fields to non-Muslims so that they control us and humiliate us even more?

All these questions and more, cropped up in Mu‘aath’s mind, so much so that he could not sleep. The questions confused him till he met Shaykh Yoosuf after ‘Ishaa’ (night prayer) at the Masjid. Mu‘aath was unable to hide his concern. Shaykh Yoosuf noticed and decided to ask him about the reason for it after the prayer.

After the prayer, Mu‘aath sat in front of Shaykh Yoosuf who asked, "How are you Mu‘aath? You seem to have a lot on your mind today. What is it and what is preoccupying you?"

Mu‘aath answered hesitatingly: "Praise be to Allah, O Shaykh Yoosuf, but there is something that has been worrying me since this morning and I cannot get it out of my mind."


Shaykh Yoosuf asked again with a clear note of worry in his voice: "What is the matter, Mu‘aath? Tell me. Perhaps I may be able to alleviate what you are suffering from."

Tired of hiding the matter, Mu‘aath immediately said, "In fact, Shaykh Yoosuf, I read a Hadeeth this morning that was almost about to destroy my perception of Islam and adherence to it as well as form a new perception. You certainly know it. It is the saying of the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: 'This life is cursed; cursed is everything in it except remembrance of Allah and what is relevant to that, or a scholar, or a learner.'"

Shaykh Yoosuf said wonderingly, "Yes, I know this Hadeeth, but what made you say that it destroys your perception about Islam?"

Mu‘aath replied in confusion, "O Shaykh Yoosuf, I understood from this Hadeeth that work and production are not important because they are not part of remembering Allah The Almighty and what is relevant to that."

Shaykh Yoosuf smiled and patted Mu‘aath’s shoulder, saying, "O Mu‘aath, do not rush to judge things at first glance, but you have to wait a little before you explain things. This Hadeeth could never lead to your conclusion, and I have many proofs regarding that."

Mu‘aath’s worry started subsiding and he asked anxiously, "I beg you, Shaykh Yoosuf, tell me what is the correct understanding of this thorny issue."

Shaykh Yoosuf sat up straight and said, "O Mu‘aath, listen to this Hadeeth of the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, which will astound you: 'If the Hour comes while one of you has a palm seedling to plant, let the one who is able to plant it do so before the Hour strikes.'" [Al-Albaani: Saheeh].

When Resurrection is imminent, it is expected that the Prophet  orders us to repent, seek the forgiveness of Allah, forget this life, and work eagerly for the Hereafter. On the contrary, the Prophet  ordered us to fill the earth with life by planting a seedling. Which seedling does the Prophet  order us to plant? It is a palm seedling which only produces fruit after long years. What do you think, Mu‘aath?"

With a gaping mouth Mu‘aath said, "Oh! I did not expect that the Prophet  would say these words."

Shaykh Yoosuf continued, "The Prophet  told us this to show us that the road to the Hereafter is the road to this life with no difference or separation. They are not two separate roads: one for this life and another for the Hereafter. Rather, it is one road that includes both of them and connects them. There is no road to the Hereafter called "worship" or a road to this life called "work". It is one road that starts in this life and ends in the Hereafter and in which work is not separated from worship, nor is worship separated from work. Both worship and work are the same in the sight of Islam and proceed side by side in this single and only road. In that way, we can properly understand how to carry out the saying of Allah The Almighty (what means): {Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.} [Quran 6:162]

It is not conceivable that a person keeps praying, fasting, and reading the Quran night and day to dedicate his life completely for Allah The Almighty. This was not the state of Prophet Muhammad  or his noble Companions. Thus, it is essential to combine working for this life and working for the Hereafter in order for the believer to dedicate his life entirely to Allah The Almighty.

If you realize this comprehensive meaning of worship, Mu‘aath, you would know how the Muslim Ummah (nation) has become lost and lags behind other nations when it was torn between two groups: a group that lost this life on the pretext of dedication to the Hereafter, and another group that neglected the Hereafter and pursued this life, not to attain the Pleasure of Allah The Almighty, but to fulfill their desires and pleasures.

The giants of faith, who walk in the way of Allah The Almighty, are the owners of real success because they seek to please Allah in all their works. They are the ones whose hearts have been touched by faith and have great energies whereby they inhabit this world and achieve the highest aspirations of immortal success. It is success that starts with a good living, happiness with achievement, and enjoyment of success in order to please Allah The Almighty, and ends up in the Hereafter in the Gardens of Eden, in the seat of honor near the Sovereign and Perfect in Ability.

 

Shaykh Yoosuf said, “Mu‘aath, there are other proofs from the Quran and Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) which prove what I said. Allah The Almighty says (what means): { Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority.} [Quran 2:30]

Allah The Almighty enjoined the believers to be a successive authority on earth by inhabiting it in order to establish worship of Allah The Almighty. Man cannot succeed in this difficult mission unless he possesses the potential and capabilities that qualify him for that. Thus, Allah The Almighty granted man these capabilities and created him in the best stature. Allah The Almighty says (what means): {We have certainly created man in the best of stature.} [Quran 95:4] That is to enable man to accomplish this task in the best possible manner. The Companions of the Prophet  set the best example for this. How could they establish the greatest nation on earth in a very short period of time that amounts to nothing in the calculation of time? How did they build the world's finest civilization at their time which is considered the basis of the renaissance that occurred in the West?

In one of his famous books, called The Making of Humanity, Robert Briffault said,

The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture; it owes its existence. The ancient world was, as we saw, pre-scientific. The astronomy and mathematics of the Greeks were a foreign importation never thoroughly acclimatized into Greek culture. The Greeks systematized, generalized and theorized, but the patient ways of investigation, the accumulation of positive knowledge, the minute methods of science, detailed and prolonged observation, experimental inquiry, were altogether alien to the Greek temperament. Only in Hellenistic Alexandria was any, approach to scientific work conducted in the ancient classical world. What we call science arose in Europe as a result of a new spirit of inquiry, of new methods of investigation, of the method of experimentation, observation, measurement, and of the development of mathematics into a form unknown to the Greeks. That spirit and those methods were introduced into the European world by the Arabs.

Therefore, it was not strange that the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked a Companion like Zayd bin Thaabit, may Allah be pleased with him, to master the Hebrew language in just two weeks. The Prophet  was aware of his abilities, whom Allah The Almighty had honored by making him a successive authority on earth. Thus, the noble Companion learnt and mastered this language in only two weeks. Listen to these two wonderful Hadeeths:

1- It was narrated on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet  said: "Seven acts whose reward continues for the Muslim in his grave after his death: a person who taught knowledge, let a river run, dug a well, planted palm-trees, built a Masjid, bequeathed a Mus-haf, or left a child who would ask forgiveness for him after his death." [Al-Bazzaar (Al-Albaani: Hasan)]

2- It was narrated on the authority of Jaabir bin ‘Abdullaah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet  said: "Everything which does not belong to the remembrance of Allah is diversion and amusement except for four things: a man's playing with his wife, training his horse, shooting arrows, and learning to swim." [An-Nasaa’i (Al-Albaani: Hasan)]

The Companions of the Prophet  set the best examples.

‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin ‘Awf

‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, sold a piece of land to ‘Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him, for forty thousand dinars and distributed it among the poor of Banu Zuhrah, the poor Muhaajiroon (Emigrants), and the Mothers of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with them. Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr  said, "Abdur-Rahmaan bin ‘Awf, the one who said, 'Show me where the market of Madeenah is,' was fortunate in trade. He left one thousand camels, three thousand sheep, and one hundred horses, and he used to cultivate in Al-Jurf – a place located at a distance of three miles from Al-Madeenah in the direction of Ash-Shaam – using twenty horses to draw water for his land."

“Mu‘aath, are you now convinced that our religion encourages production and activity and never calls for false monasticism whose main motive is the inability to build up the earth?”

Mu‘aath nodded his head and firmly said, "Now I understand, Shaykh Yoosuf, and I realize that there must be proper understanding of religion so as not to mix proper and improper perceptions or misunderstand the reality of Islam, which always calls for the best for the individual and the society."